know," said Marianne.

She snapped her fingers in her impatience.

The letter that she had torn up had been written by Rosas, and received
by Uncle Kayser at his studio, whence he had forwarded it to his niece.
The duke informed Marianne that he would wait for her at five o'clock at
Avenue Montaigne. He had something to say to her. He had passed the
entire night reflecting and dreaming. She remembered her own wild
dreams. Had Rosas then caught her thought floating like an atom on the
night wind?

At five o'clock! She would be punctual. But how escape Vaudrey? She
could not now feign sickness since she had received him! Moreover, he
would instal himself near her and bombard her with his attentions. Was
there any possible pretext, any way of getting out now? Her lover had
the devoted, radiant look of a loved man who relied on enjoying a long
interview with his mistress. He looked at her with a tender glance.

"The fool--The sticker!" thought Marianne. "He will not leave!"

The best course was to go out. She would lose him on the way.

"What time have you, my dear minister?"

"One o'clock!"

"Then I have time!" she said.

Vaudrey seemed surprised. Marianne unceremoniously informed him, in
fact, that she had some calls to make, to secure some purchases.

"How disagreeable!"

"Yes, for me!"

"I beg your pardon," said Sulpice, correcting himself.

She sent for a coupe and damp and keen as the weather was, she
substituted for the glorious day of snug, intimate joy that Vaudrey had
promised himself, a succession of weary hours passed in the draught
caused by badly-fitting windows, while making a series of trips hither
and thither, Marianne meantime cudgelling her brains to find a way to
leave her lover on the way, or at least to notify Rosas.

But above all to notify Lissac! It was Lissac whom she was determined to
see. Yes, absolutely, and at once. The more she considered the matter,
the more dangerous it appeared to her.

Sulpice had not given her a moment of freedom at her house, in which to
write a few lines. He might have questioned her and that would be
imprudent.

"I wish, however, to tell Guy to expect me!--Where? Rue Cuvier? He
would not go there!--No, at his house!"

On the way she found the means.

Vaudrey evidently was at liberty for the day and, master of his time, he
would not leave her. This he repeated at every turn of the wheel. She
ordered the driver to take her to _The Louvre_.

"I h